


Circling

by RighteousNerd



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Coulson is having a bad night, F/M, May is done with their nonsense, May's ex is irritating, Melodrama and manpain, Speculative for season 2b, implied philinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-08
Packaged: 2018-03-06 17:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3143099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RighteousNerd/pseuds/RighteousNerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andrew Garner does not like Phil Coulson. It's mutual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Circling

"We're going to get out of here," Phil says for what feels like the hundredth time. It's becoming his new mantra. "We just have to get clear and a team will come for us."

May is coming, he thinks but doesn't say. His companion knows it already, probably better than anyone, save Phil himself. Next to him, Andrew Garner huffs. Message received. That's sort of the height of their communication these days. Phil repeating himself over and over again and Andrew glaring in his general direction. Not ideal, by any means. 

Actually, being stuck in any close proximity with Melinda May's ex husband is nowhere near Phil's notions of ideal. Although come to think of it neither is running for his life through a forest at night, and yet here they are. Looking back, it was kind of inevitable. For all the supposed friendship between them, Andrew and Phil never really did work all that well together. At least, not just the two of them.

Phil's pretty sure he has a concussion. Probably got it when they blew the wall, because, of course, their simple information retrieval op involved explosions. And it was supposed to be a simple mission, or else May wouldn't have even let Phil go. He'd volunteered, insisted really, when he'd seen how defensive May had grown in her ex's presence, how she had bristled. Andrew was a consummate professional while working with Skye, but get him and his former wife in the same room and all he seemed to do was push her boundraies. It grated at him as it grated at her, and Phil wasn't about to send her out on private missions for two with a man who seemed content to dig at her defenses. Andrew had been there... to verify information? Some kind of research that Hydra had and they needed. Something to do with Skye's newfound powers. Something only Andrew would recognize. The details have gone kind of fuzzy in Phil's mind. So, definitely a concussion. 

Besides, the op had seemed pretty straight forward, at least it had until it had gone spectacularly wrong. Get in, get the info, and get out. Minimal opposition expected. That had been the plan, but it's nowhere near what happened. On the plus side, he's upright and moving under his own power, which is not something he can say for Andrew. When the wall blew, the force knocked them both about a bit, and Andrew came down oddly on his leg. It hadn't seemed broken, but any real weight made the man buckle. At best a bad sprain, but more probably a fracture of some kind. Either way, it's slow going, with Phil carrying half of the other man's weight. Slow and uncomfortable for both.

As far as miserable situations go, Phil's pretty sure they've checked most of the boxes. On the run from Hydra? Check. Bodily Harm? Double check. Communication with outside team? None available. Adverse terrain? Definitely some of that. Awkward personal relationship with team mate? Check, Damn it.

But they do have a backup plan, so there's that. They even have a backup plan in case their backup plan fails, because that's just sort of how May and Phil plan their missions these days. In case of detection - the explosion definitely gave them away- and communication break down, an extraction site was established three klicks due east. Three klicks through a heavily wooded area, while injured, with a guy who seems to pretty much hate Phil. What could go wrong?

He sighs, and tries to pick up the pace, pulling Garner along sharply. Maybe a little too sharply, as Andrew hisses and his steps falter.

"We have to keep moving," Phil reminds him. It's almost said in apology, almost. "We have to be getting close."

"Do you even know where you're going?" Andrew asks, the amount of faith he has in Phil once again obviously non-existant. Truth be told, it's been less than helpful.

"East." Phil points to the fist touches of sunrise barely easing out into the sky. Have they spent the entire night in the woods together? Somehow it feels like it's been longer. "Extraction will be on-site soon. We've got to move."

"I just need a minute," Andrew grumbles, breathing heavily and easing away from Phil to sit on a nearby log. Phil gives him the space, wincing as he stretches out his suddenly unburdened shoulder. He's starting to feel like he's swimming in his own skull, and is very much looking forward to some industrial strength pain meds. Especially if they come standard with May's 'Personal Safety in the Event of Explosions' lecture. Phil almost knows that one word for word, and has started to find it oddly comforting. Not that he'd ever tell her that.

"We are going to get out of this," he says again, and then adds, partly to fill the silence and partly because the guy is starting to piss him off, "May is coming for us."

That seems to finally get a reaction.

"Spare me the rhetoric, okay? I'm not some baby faced agent," the other man snaps. "I know we can get out of this. But don't try and tell me that Melinda is coming for us. If she's coming for anybody, it's you."

Badly timed and horribly uncomfortable conversation? Check.

"It's not like that," Phil says, his fists clenching at his sides.

"Isn't it?" Andrew demands. "I'm not stupid. Even when we were friends, I knew you were in love with my wife."

"That's not fair. We never-"

"This would go a lot smoother if you'd stop pretending that you didn't want me gone then or even that you're happy that I'm here now."

And that's it, the anger that's simmered under Phil's skin finally boils over. "What I wanted, then, was for you to help your wife. And now? Now you're just that guy who abandoned my friend when she needed you."

"Hey, I tried," Andrew says, and Phil resents his tone of voice immediately. As if he should get points for trying and this failure is acceptable. "She didn't want my help after Bahrain, made that very clear when she shut me out. When she shut everyone out, everyone but you. Why is that I wonder?"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Phil practically growls, wincing as his own volume spikes pain through his temple. 

"Excuses, huh? It hasn't escaped my notice that the two of you are still together." Andrew staggers up onto his feet so that he can lean over into Phil's space, his voice dropping low. "How long after you supposedly died did you have her on your bus? Melinda swore she would never see combat again. How much convincing did it take for her to be out there, fighting your fights?"

"I didn't ask her to do that," Phil insists. "It was her decision."

"No, you didn't ask and she didn't hesitate."

There's no clear argument here, no ground to be gained, and Phil can't quite escape the feeling that Andrew has him on the run. His head throbs, and not for the first time he really just wants to go home. "We need to get moving."

"She was my wife, Phil," the other man continues, ignoring him completely. "And there was always a part of her that was thinking of you. Always a part of her ready to drop everything to have your back. Finally she asks for me, needs my help, and it's still all about you!"

"It's not about me," Phil reminds him coldly. "It's about Skye!"

"The would-be daughter, and the would-be family. It's quite the little household the two of you have together," Andrew grouses.

There's no way for Phil to win here, and he just wants to be done. He's tired, his head hurts, and they're going to be late for their pickup. May doesn't like it when he's late. She's already going to be worried -because, hey, explosion- and being late is only going to make it worse. Even so, he has to ask, "If you hate me so much, if you're this angry, why are you even here? Why are you helping us?"

"Because Melinda asked, and she wouldn't have if it wasn't important," Andrew says, as if it were obvious and Phil had just missed the point by a mile. "And I don't hate you."

Could have fooled him, Phil thinks.

"I pity you," Andrew clarifies, and it's not at all better. "Melinda and I had something once, but it's over. More or less a clean break. But the two of you? The two of you are going to circle each other like this until one of you dies. You won't ask for more than you're worried she'll give, and she won't ever stop giving you everything."

This would be the perfect time for a witty comeback. Something pointed and devestating, and as soon as Phil can think of one, he'll get right on it.

"Can I say something?" A new voice asks instead. A very familiar and very angry voice. They turn in unison to find Melinda May regarding the both of them coldly. She can be so impossibly stealthy when she wants, and neither of them had heard her approach. "Or are the two of you content to discuss my life choices amongst yourselves?"

To anyone else, she would probably appear rather calm. But Phil and Andrew, both having been intimately acquainted with her fury, know better. Although, Andrew doesn't seem nearly as concerned with her ire as he should be, Phil thinks. Probably because he gets to leave whenever he wants. 

May moves to stand between them, giving Phil a once over and then eyeing Andrew's leg. "Can you move?" 

They both nod, dumbly.

"Well then why aren't you? The entire damn forest is looking for you both,"she reminds them forcefully. As if she's trying to get a very simple concept through some very thick heads. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"He started it," Phil protests, and regrets it almost immediately. The way her eyes narrow in his direction lets him know that they are definitely going to be discussing this at length later.

"Get. On. The. Plane." She grits out, turning toward the extraction point and leaving Phil and Andrew to scramble after her. 

Pissed off Melinda May? Check.


End file.
